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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Yael Naim: 'She Was A Boy' Album Review

I've been trying to introduce myself to new music lately. I tend to stick to what I know and like but every now and then I'll head into the local coffee shop and hear something I like, but probably would have never listened to on my own.

Singer-songwriter Yael Naim is one the artists I probably would not have listened to normally but since I was offered her newest album 'She Was A Boy' to review I of course went for it. I mean, it is free after all.

When I received the album the first thought that came to mind is the fact that she reminded me of the artist Frida Kahlo, mostly because of the pinned up hair and dark eyebrows I think. That same night, I watched Greys Anatomy and thought 'they have some cool music on tonight's episode' then at the end I see that the music featured in the May 12, 2011 episode was no other than Yael Naim and the songs were straight off her newest album 'She Was A Boy'. Funny stuff...

After listening to the entire album I have to say I liked it. Not all of the songs kept my attention but there's no denying that Yael Naim & her music partner David Donatien are very talented. The mixture of her her smooth & mellow voice with his jazz sounds are definitely music to the ears.

All of the songs in the album are very mellow and relaxing. Yael's voice could have you listening to it for hours but I preferred the more fun and upbeat songs on the album. I think it has a lot to do with the mood I was in that day, I was feeling very alive so some of the slower, more heartfelt songs just didn't hit the spot then. But like I said, there's no denying that they're all wonderfully written lyrics pieced perfectly with a very mellow, sometimes jazzy sound.

Yael Naim is a French-Israeli pop-folk songstress who has released 2 albums to date. In 2007 she released a self titled album which she promoted for year by touring worldwide. Yael and David have been a music team for the past 2 1/2 years. Yael Naim however writes all her own music and recorded the album 'She Was A Boy' in the comfort of her studio/apartment.

In a recent interview with LA Music Blog Yael had this to say about how she came to work with David:

"I write my songs alone. We became a band because when I met him I was writing many songs, hundreds, and making quick demos. He was the one to push me to start to record an album. The first thing he brought was really great encouragement to concentrate on the music and finish the work. Then from time to time he used to give me advice and come to listen to what I did."

Yael is the first Israeli solo artist to have a Top 10 hit in the U.S with her 2008 single 'New Soul' which had nearly 1.5 million downloads in the U.S. after appearing in Apple's campaign for their Macbook Air computer.

The album 'She Was A Boy' was released on May 10, 2011 and was praised by Entertainment Weekly as being "...sprightly Joni Mitchell-goes-Dixieland charm" while MTV Hive praised her "knack for fun, whimsical pops songs".

(Disclosure: Sneak Attack provided me with the above mentioned album in order to review it. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this review. The views & opinions expressed in this post are mine.)